The box with a ring inside lay in front of him on the table and he was hesitating. He had been dating Ladybug for seven months now. And he hadn't told her that he was Chat Noir. Now, when such long time had passed, would she leave him after knowing he had been omitting the truth all along?

He was saved from coming to a conclusion when his phone rang and he took it out of his pocket to answer the call.

"Hey, dude! Are you free tomorrow afternoon?" Nino was awfully cheery for no reason. Unless, he had asked Alya before Adrien asked Maria.

"Yes, I think. Why are you asking?"

"Guess who's back in town and can't wait to see you – AW! that hurt –" Adrien heard faint laughter from the other end, "Okay, so, Marinette is finally back from abroad where she was working for some obnoxious fashion company. What was it?" Nino's speech cut off for a second until he was back talking to Adrien. "Gucci! Yeah, I totally forgot, so we thought it would be cool to go out – all four of us! What do you think?"

"Yeah, sure." He had forgotten about Marinette's incredible job offer altogether.

"He said yes!" Nino exclaimed on the phone, probably to inform Alya and Marinette who were listening in. Alya was living with Nino now, just as he was with Maria, so it wasn't a surprise that Marinette had gone to their place at first. He didn't even know if Marinette had his number, let alone knew his address.

"Wait, Marinette wants to say something," said Nino and the phone was likely given to Marinette.

"Hiiiii!" She sang out and Nino retrieved the phone.

"That was so necessary, Marinette." There was laughter in the background and Adrien realised how much he missed his friends. He hadn't had many chances to hang out with them. "Okay, Alya will text you the details tomorrow morning. Later!" They said their goodbyes and hung up.

Engagement plans had to wait. This was why it didn't feel right just yet. He wanted to ask his long-time friends, if they were okay with it. After all, they would hang out a lot in the future as well and it wouldn't do if they frowned upon Maria.

She was Ladybug, but they wouldn't know it, so he respected their opinion. Alya and Nino had met her few times and although at first their faces had fallen at hearing the news that he was dating someone and they had exchanged an indescribable look, in general they seemed to accept her.

But Marinette hadn't even met Maria. And Adrien realized he cared about her opinion a lot. Maybe he could invite Maria along with them? He didn't believe they would mind and Maria had seemed stressed out last weeks, so maybe it was what she needed. A meetup? With his friends?

Finally, he decided that he would tell Maria that he was going out with his friends the next day, but introduced her to Marinette on some other day.

The evening was inching forward and the time came when he had to go to his evening patrol. Without Ladybug for the sixth year in a row. This didn't mean he hadn't seen her for that long – last time was half a year ago – it was that she never stayed for the patrol. Which perplexed him of course, because Maria wasn't busy working every night and could have easily find time to patrol with him, but for some reason she didn't.

Before he could complete his patrol, he saw a violent interaction on the street, which was a rarity as the patrols were more of a habit, not something he deemed necessary. The crime rate had dropped immensely and Hawk Moth had been defeated a long time ago, there was no need for superheroes, although Paris still loved them and kept up with their lives.

It took him almost a quarter of an hour, before he was finally able to break the fight with the use of Cataclysm. The police had arrived by that time, so the restaurant's security personnel thanked him for his help and let him go on his way, cleaning up the broken glass and damaged furniture themselves.

Adrien ran towards the alcove of the building to conceal himself from the public eye before his transformation dropped. Thankfully, the blanket of the night was covering him. His musings and plans for the night were interrupted by the sound of the cord wheezing and Ladybug landing next to him.

She was surprised to see him there. He realised she must have been looking at Chat Noir's location on her compact for her to reach him so quickly.

"Uhm, hi, did you by any chance see Chat Noir in the area?"

Ladybug was seen in Paris in public after a long time and he couldn't have been happier, except his heart was beating in his chest due to his lies to his almost fiancé. Maria didn't talk about Chat Noir, she didn't even mention him in passing, he had no idea what to expect.

"He already left." Her face fell a little, but she disguised it quickly with an easy-going smile.

"Oh, I'll find him, then."

He decided to be a little bit brave as he was nervous of addressing her in public as a civilian, in case someone heard them.

"It's good to see you, but as it's just us, you don't have to pretend like you don't know me outside the mask."

All the colour left her face. "What?" she squeaked.

He stared at her terrified and confused expression and he swore his heart stopped for a moment. He refused to believe this could be happening. She simply hadn't heard him right.

Ladybug was still looking at him as if she had seen a ghost, but then seemed to snap out of it.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about." Her voice was shaky and he had never heard her sound that unsure before. In tremendously long minute he had come to realisation that her vague and confused response could have only meant one. She was not her.

Something hadn't seemed right for a long time, he had felt it in his gut, but brushed it away.

Adrien nodded and finally she left, wishing him a lovely evening and leaving Adrien heartbroken with his whole world turned upside down.

He went straight back to his apartment, foolishly forgetting that Ladybug had been searching for him, and slowly made his way towards Maria, who looked visibly shaken, namely by the big news all over the media spreading around the city like wildfire that Ladybug was seen once again. Her hand holding the spatula was trembling.

There was no use in trying to stop the tears that gathered in his eyes as he looked at the girl he thought he loved.

She realised she couldn't stop hiding the truth any longer.

"Why? Why did you do this? What kind of person does something like that?"

"I was trying to help you! You're in your twenties and still pining over a celebrity crush that will never return your feelings!" Only the slight shake of her voice in the end of the sentence betrayed her fear of abandonment.

"You had no right. You had no right to assume someone's identity and portray it as your own. I can't believe I fell for it."

"She doesn't matter! You fell for me! Our relationship has nothing to do with her."

"It has everything to do with her. You wouldn't understand."

"Yes, I don't understand! You think you actually have a chance with her?" She was defensive and he would have felt bad and guilty for doing this to her, but this was important.

"I can't continue this anymore. Please take your things and leave, preferably tonight, if you have a place to stay." He couldn't look at her. He had never felt so betrayed.

Plagg stayed quiet. He knew from the start that this girl wasn't Ladybug, but seeing Adrien happy was more important to him. It was hard to come by.

Maria had moved out in an hour, ashamed and disappointed. She didn't dare to draw his ire and had found it more efficient to make her way out of the apartment back to her parents' house.

Adrien sat on the chair in his suddenly empty apartment that he had bought after he had finished university in hopes of someday sharing it with the girl, the woman, he loved.

He didn't know how to lessen his pain. His heart was torn. He couldn't stand still. Thankfully he had a way out, a way to forget his troubles for a few minutes or hours if he was lucky and Plagg agreed to it.

Marinette startled when she heard a faint yell from outside and for a moment she thought it was another akuma. Old habits die hard. She moved towards a window, but seeing nothing except the dark night illuminated by the street lamps, she weighed her options.

She never found Chat Noir during her search, although her compact had shown his location. She knew he had been out. She figured he detransformed and went straight back home after the altercation.

As her plane landed in the afternoon, she was able to meet Alya and Nino right away and they had contacted Adrien though phone, but she hadn't been able to reunite with Chat yet, which she had been looking forward to the most.

Her next design project could be started later. Maybe there was something important going on and her help was needed.

"Tikki, transform me!" In seconds, she was ready to discreetly jump out of the window to check out the disturbance.

To say she had expected Chat Noir running aimlessly on the rooftops while stopping frequently to punch something without doing much damage as a way to deal with aggression, would have been a lie. He had never looked so distraught before she had moved out of Paris to pursue her dreams.

It was as if everything else had disappeared and the only thought in her mind was to confirm that her partner, or her previous partner, was okay.

Her heart clenched when she saw Chat falling to his knees and bringing his hands to cover his face. When she reached him, his shoulders were shaking and she realised he was crying silently.

"Chat," she tried to soothe him, but to her surprise he swatted her hand away just when it had touched his shoulder. Ladybug bit her lip and tried to approach him again. This time she was smarter to not touch him.

"Chat, please, let me help you," her voice was barely above a whisper.

His gaze was empty, his mask and face wet with tears and then he gave into her plea.

She had to assure him that she wouldn't leave, soothing him, and stroking his hair carefully while he wept in her lap and clung to her body. His fingers were clutching her hips almost painfully, but she didn't mind.

After a while, he spoke.

"I thought it was you," her hands stopped their movement. To see the person the dearest to her in shackles of his own sorrows made her soul bleed for him.

He told her all. At least, what was most important and couldn't be traced back to his identity. She learnt that a girl had tricked him, pretended to be Ladybug – how did she even dare to impersonate her – she had lied about everything and her partner was now suffering from the consequences. Indirectly, she was the cause of his devastation. She was the last thing he needed right now.

"You're going to be okay. It's okay. I know of heartbreak. It passes. Don't shut your heart out." Ladybug could only be there to offer unattached and impersonal condolences.

It was her fault. She hadn't wanted to share the identities. At first it was to protect him and everyone around their civilian lives as Hawk Moth could have used the information to hurt them. After the defeat, she never brought it up, and he didn't either. She would have, she's certain she would have told him, but he had never asked again. Maybe he hadn't even wanted to know anymore. She was wrong yet again.

He sat up, his gloves resting on her thighs, and looked into her eyes. He was close. Too close.

"I'm in love you," Chat blurted and her heart stopped beating, "I love you so much. I never stopped."

He had never sounded as earnest as he was in that moment. It was useless to pretend that her pulse was not speeding up and she didn't feel something back. She loved him, too, of course, but she never let herself to delve into her romantic feelings.

"I know you're in love with someone else and I don't stand a chance. He would be a fool to not see what's in front of him."

Ladybug gently took hold of his fingers and pressed his palm against her rib cage where her heart was. His eyes followed the movement.

"Do you feel it? It's racing. Because of you." Chat turned to look her in her eyes. "You deserve everything in the world. If my heart hadn't belonged to someone else, I would have fallen for you million times already."

"Please… don't say that there's no reason for me to wait."

"I'm not saying that. You have to let your heart heal. Being with me would only remind you of your pain. Promise me that you'd try.

"And if things won't work out for me and after you have failed trying to build a healthy relationship, then maybe… maybe we could attempt this. To be together."

Ladybug wiped the tears from his cheeks, but didn't move her hands. He nuzzled against her right hand, loving and gentle.

Her forehead rested against his and she raised her chin, so her mouth could hover over his. He was breathing heavily. She would be making a mistake, but without listening to her head she leaned in to gently brush her lips against his. It was soft, undemanding and nothing else had felt as real as this.

He sighed and closed his eyes, savouring every single second she allowed him.

That night she unknowingly gave him a piece of her heart.

Alya and Nino didn't show up to their meetup. Marinette wanted to believe that they hadn't ditched them just so her and Adrien could be together. She had told Alya years ago that her crush was gone and she liked Adrien only as a friend, but Alya still insisted that they were perfect for each other. The possibility persevered, and if he asked, she would say yes, but she had stopped pursuing him.

The café was crowded, but thankfully they found an empty and tiny wooden table next to the window with a view towards the busy street. There were pots of plants hanging from the ceiling beside the window along with the lamp over their heads that beamed a yellowish light.

Adrien was already there looking at the menu when she arrived. In response to her greeting his face brightened, but something told her he wasn't all right. He seemed desolate.

After ordering their drinks, her a caffè macchiato and him a cappuccino, she asked if he was okay.

"I'm… getting by. Tell me about your time abroad." She was willing to put aside his obvious discomfort and reluctance to talk about what was troubling him, so she did her best to distract him.

He smiled politely and seemed happy that she had been enjoying herself and the work had been challenging, but the gained experience had been worth it. She didn't regret it, although she had missed her friends.

When she said she was back for good, Adrien perked up and his walls finally started to crumble. The coffee they had ordered was finished by then, but she still had time to ask him.

"Adrien, if you want to talk about what is upsetting you, I'm listening. If it's within my power, I will do my best to help you."

He sighed. "It's about a girl I was seeing." That surprised her; she hadn't known he had been in a relationship.

"I met her after your last visit. I-I found out she had lied about something important since the beginning and I broke things off."

"Adrien..."

"It's okay. I'm okay. It was too good to be true anyway."

"Is it a recent change?"

"Yes. I was with her for seven months. I… I thought she was the one."

"I'm sorry that happened to you. If you need a friend to talk to, I'm here." She was not going to reach out and touch his hand to comfort him as Chat hadn't reacted well to that.

She had missed out on a lot when she had been away. It was as if she was the bad omen, bringing the misfortune to people she was close to. Funny, how she was supposed to be the symbol of good luck.

Later Alya apologised for hers and Nino's absence, as one of the reporters had gotten into car accident and Alya had to replace her presence in the studio. Nino had been the means of transport.

Her excuse was credible, but knowing Alya, she had wanted to know all about how her and Adrien's date had gone. Things like these made Marinette certain that Alya wasn't all upset about missing their hangout.

In weeks after, Adrien and her had grown closer and were spending a lot of time together. She liked to think that it was a way for him to distract himself from his relationship fallout and he just needed someone to be there for him. She was glad to help him in whichever means.

One time he asked her to play the video games with him in his apartment. The next time she showed him the new art exhibition that opened near the Luxembourg Gardens. Quite often he came along with her to the Dupain-Cheng bakery and chatted with her parents while they didn't have customers to attend to. One time her parents even invited him for dinner.

It wasn't beyond the imagination to reach a conclusion that they were dating. From outside point of view it truly looked as if they were in a relationship, but they had never officially stated it. He never made a move on her, always remained respectful and kept his distance.

To believe that it was anything more than a friendship was ridiculous in Marinette's opinion. She stood by her view until he gave her a bouquet of flowers, which made her feel alarmed that she had after all given a wrong impression. Something prevented her from accepting his affection.

Meanwhile, Ladybug had shown up to every patrol since she arrived back to Paris. She had thought her partner would be apprehensive working with her so closely again, but in the end there had been nothing to be worried about.

He seemed a little distant, but otherwise he chose not to bring up his past relationship or how he had recovered from it. Their relationship from before had not changed. They joked around, helped the civilians occasionally and attended events they were invited to, the amount of the events had doubled especially since Ladybug was seen so often.

In one particular evening, they were sitting on the roof sharing the sweets from Dupain-Cheng bakery that she had received from her parents, when she visited them in the afternoon. She had carefully selected the flavours and pastries which she was sure Chat was fond of. There was still time until the patrol started.

"I'm officially staying in Paris."

"You are?" He took the box out of her hands and put it down beside them.

"Chaaaat!" She laughed and almost choked on the chocolate cake when his arms wrapped around her shoulders and he hugged her tightly.

"Yes, I am! I got a job here."

"I'm so glad. You were missed." She grinned at him close mouthed as she was still munching on the pastry. Sneakily, she grabbed the strawberry flavoured macaron from between his claws.

"Hey!"

"Ha! Your reflexes are rusty!"

"Not fair, you distracted me with your beauty." His nonchalant response and how easily he had said it made her cheeks flush red.

She gave the macaron back to him, not looking him into the eye. He must have sensed her discomfort. Neither of them had forgotten his confession and her offer.

"I met someone."

Few seconds passed. "You did?"

"I've known her for a long time, but I have never looked at her in romantic way."

Ladybug was happy for him, she was, but a pin-sized ache was pricking her heart. He couldn't imagine him with that girl, or anyone. Anyone except… her.

"Do you… want to be with her?"

Chat was silent for too long. "I… I might." He smiled softly and the ache became tenfold stronger.

She was in love with him. She was in love with Chat and now it was too late, he had already moved on. What had she been thinking? That he wouldn't try to move on when she had basically ordered him to do so? She had everything she had ever wanted, a good job, supporting friends and if she wanted she could have started dating Adrien – her middle school self would have passed out by now – but instead she wanted Chat, who was emotionally unavailable. How did she get into that mess?

"I have always been set on you. I haven't been looking to fall in love with anyone else, which is why I never developed any feelings towards her before."

She couldn't dare to mention in return that she had almost gotten together with the one she had chosen over him since the beginning. A good superhero didn't make decisions based on their emotions. She couldn't forget whose happiness mattered the most.

"You should tell her how you feel."

That night, to her shame, she cried herself to sleep.

The conversation was not something she was looking forward to, but she needed to set things straight. How did one even approach the subject? Thankfully, she didn't have to wait for long, because shortly after she received the flowers, he invited her over again.

He had ordered pizza and they were in the middle of the matches in one of their favourite video games. During the snack break, she decided to come clean.

"I'm afraid I've given you an incorrect impression. I… I like you Adrien, but I'm not sure if this is the direction we should take our friendship."

Adrien instantly realised what she was talking about and sat down in front of her on the other side of the kitchen table.

"Do you feel as if it's not what you want? That I don't meet your expectations?"

"No, of course not. That's not it. Perhaps we are rushing things. I just– are you sure about it? You just ended a long relationship."

"If you're worried that you're a rebound, I assure you, you wouldn't be."

She looked at the slice of pizza in front of her, but her stomach was in knots and she couldn't even swallow the last bite she took. It was hard to find the words to express herself which would let him down easy. Ultimately, she didn't even have to as he caught on.

"Marinette, if you don't want to be with me, just say so. I won't take it personally. Maybe it is better if we didn't get ahead of ourselves."

She felt as if she was drowning and he threw her a rope.

"I don't know what to say. I have never felt this way."

"You should tell them how you feel." She looked up, taken aback. When had she become so easy to read? At least it didn't hurt as much when she wasn't the one to spell it out. That she was in love with someone and he no longer loved her back.

"He likes someone else." How had he known? Marinette didn't have to ask him, because he answered it himself.

"I used to be in the same situation. In a while, I got used to it, but that feeling never goes away." Tilting her head, she looked at him questionably.

"No, not Maria."

The pizza on her plate had grown cold, but it still tasted delicious. Neither of them was particularly interested in continuing the current conversation, so they changed the topic and turned the conversation into light-hearted one opposed to them sharing their unreciprocated feelings.

Marinette didn't go to see Chat for a full week afterwards. She couldn't face him, listen to him talk about this wonderful girl he wanted to court, and pretend her heart wasn't breaking in the process. Was this how he had felt all those years? Karma had come back for her.

She couldn't be with Adrien, she couldn't do that to him without compromising her own happiness and truth be told, it wasn't fair to him. She wasn't open to love, why should she play with someone else's feelings to replace the hollowness inside her.

"Marinette?" Adrien asked curiously after he opened the door. He either was just ready to get to bed or she had woken him up.

"Can I stay here for the night?"

"Of course." He opened the door wide and let her in.

She had tried to ignore her feelings for Chat, until they were so painful that she couldn't sleep alone, because of heartache.

Before she could say anything, he led her to his bedroom and turned on the light.

"Do you want me to stay with you?"

Marinette simply nodded. It was cruel of her to do that to Adrien, being with him here in his apartment after she pretty much rejected him, but she wanted to be selfish. He was still her friend, and he could take care of her.

From the wardrobe he found another pillow and a blanket, so there would be no hogging a single blanket for themselves at night. He offered to change the covers completely, but she had refused.

She woke up in the middle of the night, her throat dry and scratchy. In darkness, she orientated around, until she found her way to the kitchen, where she hoped to get herself a glass of water.

Switching on the small light above the oven, she randomly opened a cupboard in hopes of finding a glass. There was something else.

'It's a rat!' Was her first thought. A small black creature was passed out on a wheel of camembert cheese. She let out a loud yelp, before she could stop herself.

"Ugh, Adrien, it's too early–"The creature opened his eyes and blinked at her in horror. The rat was talking! Oh. Oh, it wasn't a rat after all.

The kwami shrieked.

"Marinette! Is everything alri–" Adrien stopped at half word when he saw what had made Marinette scream in the first place.

"What is this?" she squeaked.

"Uh, I hoped I wouldn't need to do this, but Marinette, meet Plagg. And well you'll probably find out anyway, but he is who helps me to transform. To Chat Noir."

"You-you're Chat Noir?" she choked on her words.

He simply agreed and waited for her response.

Marinette still hadn't uttered a word nor moved an inch from the position she was currently in. For once she was thankful for not seeing his face.

Unknown to either of them, Tikki had flown in the room hiding in the shadows and exchanged a look with Plagg. There was no going back now.

Marinette's whole body was shaking and Adrien rushed forward to gather her in his arms where she slumped. She was in shock and it was understandable. He guided them towards the couch and sat down while Marinette was gripping his neck and stayed seated in his lap.

Adrien was freaked out and held her, while all his thoughts were jumbled. Marinette knew and she had a choice to accept this part of himself or not.

Meanwhile, she was nuzzling her face in his neck and smiling against his throat. Because everything made sense now. They were made for each other.

He stopped comforting her, when he felt her press a kiss on his jaw and heard her softly sigh that she loved him. He had heard it wrong, right?

His heart skipped a beat because he was still confused. He wasn't completely over Ladybug and to his shame, a small part of him was glad that it didn't work out with Marinette, so he could be with Ladybug.

She took his face between her palms and looked him straight in the eyes. She was not quite sure how she could tell him that she's Ladybug, because last time he was with 'Ladybug' it hadn't worked out.

"I thought I had lost you."

Adrien was puzzled until she spoke next.

"Tikki, are you there?"

A small being, too similar to his kwami for it to be a coincidence, appeared in sight with Plagg in tow and Adrien stared at the unknown creature wide-eyed. He couldn't believe it. This was a kwami. You couldn't fake the existence of kwami.

"It's me, chaton."

He looked back at Marinette and everything suddenly fell into place.

"My lady…," his voice still had a questioning edge, but then she nodded.

Before he could pass out from hyperventilation, she kissed him firmly on the mouth.

He stood up, holding Marinette tightly against him and let her wrap her legs around his hips as he took them back to the bedroom.

She slipped off the tank top that she wore to the bed and climbed on top of him. Seeing her bare chest, he snapped back to the reality and started caressing her skin. She responded to his movements and let her palms wonder over his body. As soon as all of their clothes were on the floor, they couldn't keep their hands off each other.

Marinette didn't wake up with Adrien's arms wrapped around her body or his heat radiating from the spot next to her. He wasn't even in the bed with her, but on the other side of the room in front of his wardrobe, noisily shuffling his garments around.

"Adrien, what are you doing?" He was going through his wardrobe, making a mess of the display of shoes – he was clearly looking for something.

"It is here somewhere! Oh, forget it!" Adrien ripped his miraculous ring off his finger and got down on one knee, presenting the ring to Marinette who couldn't believe her eyes.

"Marinette, Ladybug, my lady. Will you become my wife?"

"Adrien, we're naked!"

"I don't care! Now that I've found you, I'm not going to mess it up."

"Chat, stop, this is madness," she giggled, "We have all the time of the world."

"You're right, besides Nino would kill me if I popped the question before he did. I guess I got a bit carried away." Marinette closed his fist over the ring and pulled him back to bed. When her lips once again claimed his, he forgot everything else around him.

"Adrien! Marinette!" There were people. Outside his apartment. Knocking on the door. The knocking didn't stop.

"Open the door or else I will rip it apart!"

"You should let her in." Adrien snuggled closer to her and held her tighter.

"It's your apartment." Marinette whined. He peppered kisses on her cheek and chin until she sighed, pulled a blanket off Adrien and wrapped it around her body, tying it up from the corners.

She opened the door and Alya marched into the apartment with Nino behind her. They both looked extremely happy.

"Oh my god! You finally answered!" Alya cried and then shoved her hand in front of Marinette.

"I'm engaged!" Marinette gasped when she saw a simple but gracious ring on Alya's finger.

Letting out a loud yelp, she whisked into Alya's arms and hugged her.

"I'm so happy for you two! Congratulations!" She hugged Nino as well, who looked even happier, though he was less vocal about it.

Adrien had come out of the bedroom fully dressed by now, congratulating his friends just as enthusiastically as Marinette had.

"Hold on, how did you know I was here, too?" Marinette asked.

"Oh, I thought you had spent enough time around Adrien and pining over him that you wouldn't have wasted time. Seeing your attire, it looks like I was right in my assumptions." Alya smirked.

Marinette narrowed her eyes and went back to the bedroom to find her change of clothes.

"Yeah, it had nothing to do with how we tried to push them together for years." Alya elbowed Nino lightly in the stomach. "Which means next thing he'll do is ask her to marry him."

"He already did!" Marinette yelled from the other room and Adrien was left alone to face the interrogation from his inquisitive friends.